External Focus of Attention Posttraumatic Osteoarthritis

University of North Carolina, Charlotte

Status: Completed

Conditions: Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries; Anterior Cruciate Ligament Tear; Anterior Cruciate Ligament Rupture; Osteo Arthritis Knee

Treatments: Other: Internal focus of attention feedback; Other: External focus of attention feedback

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04922268

22-0089

Details and patient eligibility

About

Knee injuries, especially those to the ACL, are common among physically active people. These injuries are frequently treated with surgical reconstruction (ACL reconstruction; ACLR). While ACLR restores stability it does not protect against future injury, long-term pain, disability, and arthritis associated with these injuries. Our study is going to examine new ways to provide feedback about the way people move to determine if these are better at modifying movement patterns that are known risk factors of posttraumatic osteoarthritis development than current standard treatments. If you participate, you will be asked to undergo a movement analysis in a research laboratory while you perform tasks such as walking and hopping. After this initial assessment, you will be randomly allocated to one of 2 treatment groups. Each treatment group will perform 4 weeks (3x/week) of exercises to change the way people walk. Participants will then report for follow-up movement analysis testing 1- and 4-weeks after completing the intervention.

Enrollment: 45 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 35 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• history of primary, unilateral ACL reconstruction 6-24 months prior to enrollment
• cleared to return to full activity by treating orthopedic surgeon

Exclusion criteria

• Body mass index >35 kg/m2
• History of musculoskeletal injury sustained 3 months prior to enrollment
• Current participation in formal post-operative rehabilitation

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Double Blind

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45 participants in 2 patient groups

Internal focus of attention feedback

Active Comparator group

Description:

Participants will complete 12 sessions over 3 weeks receiving visual feedback in a mirror of their movement patterns.

Treatment:

Other: Internal focus of attention feedback

External focus of attention feedback

Experimental group

Description:

Participants will complete 12 sessions over 3 weeks receiving visual feedback of their movement patterns from a laser.

Treatment:

Other: External focus of attention feedback